CUMBERLAND – The shooting death of a couple in a neighborhood near the Arnold Mills Reservoir last week shattered a family and left neighbors and friends devastated.
No words could adequately convey the pain that will be felt for many years to come, said those closest to Courtney and Eric Huard, of 28 Birchwood Drive off Nate Whipple Highway.
Andrea Galgay, a Farm Drive resident and one of Courtney Huard’s closest friends going back 25 years since their days at Cumberland High School, and whose parents, the Nevilles, still live next door to where the Huards lived on Birchwood Drive, said the loss is profound.
“She was the kindest, most genuine person you could ever meet,” she said. “Her laugh and smile lit up every room and she will forever be missed.”
Galgay’s father, Alan Neville, said Huard will forever be an angel and never be forgotten.
Chief of Police Matthew Benson said Tuesday afternoon that he still couldn’t comment on specifics related to the case or investigation, saying he’s not sure when more information will be made available. Unfortunately, he said, the department is sometimes limited due to waiting on “certain criminalistics” outside of its control.
“I would like to reiterate my deepest condolences and sympathies to the Huard family, including any friends and family and especially the three children left during this most difficult time,” said the chief in an earlier statement.
Mayor Jeff Mutter said that when he received the phone call about the Huards’ death on the morning of June 22, the news was overwhelming, and his mind immediately went to their three children and everything that goes with a tragedy such as this.
“It’s a really, really tough situation,” he said.
He said the calls he immediately received were from people wanting to make sure there was no danger to the public, which police quickly assured them there was not.
Mutter said his deepest condolences go to the family, which is a tight one, he said, but someone will still have the hard responsibility of picking up the pieces for those children and caring for their well-being, safety, and growing up.
These circumstances are a reminder that you never truly know people and where they’re at, said the mayor.
“You just don’t know what everyone is dealing with,” he said.
People are so quick to make some sort of judgment about a situation, and the ideas of empathy, compassion, understanding and compromise used to be seen in a different light.
Anytime someone has a chance to be helpful or get a better understanding of someone, instead of living life on edge, it’s a good thing, but many people, understandably, are fearful of the coming reaction if they take the leap of faith to reach out to someone. The bottom line, he said, is to keep reaching out to people and being good to them instead of looking for some weakness to exploit.
Courtney Huard, 42, and Eric Huard, 51, were married and living together at the 1964 home they’d purchased in 2012. The three children they shared, shown to be two boys and a girl in social media photos, were found at the scene but were not physically harmed. Photos of the family showed what seemed like very normal lives, including YMCA memberships, vacations, and school awards.
Police were called around 6:40 a.m. on June 22, finding the couple both having gunshot wounds. They were pronounced dead at the scene.
Corresponding obituaries for the couple in this week’s edition of The Breeze describe a family devoted to each other and loving life.
A 1998 graduate of Cumberland High School, Courtney worked her “true calling” as the owner of True Self Nutrition of Cumberland and Providence.
Eric was a lineman for National Grid after previously working as the aquatic athletics director at the MacColl YMCA and as a Pawtucket Times photographer.
Relatives and friends are invited to visiting hours for both of them on Thursday, June 30, 4 to 7 p.m., in the J. J. Duffy Funeral Home, 757 Mendon Road. Funerals will be held Friday morning, July 1, at 10 a.m. in St. John Vianney Church, 3587 Diamond Hill Road, with burials at the Resurrection Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers in memory of Courtney, donations may be made in her memory to the Multiservice Eating Disorder Association at medainc.org.
In lieu of flowers in memory of Eric, donations may be made to NAMI of Rhode Island or to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Benson and the Cumberland Police Department acknowledged and thanked Cumberland Fire Chief Nick Anderson, EMS Chief John Pliakas, and Col. Darnell Weaver and the Rhode Island State Police Forensic Science Unit for their support and help in the investigation.
A GoFundMe campaign organized by Beth Campanelli on behalf of the Huard and Carpenter families, titled “The Huard Children,” had easily exceeded its fundraising goal of $40,000 as of Wednesday.
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